HP Photosmart 422 review

HP's Photosmart 422 portable photo studio comprises a Photosmart M415 digital camera and Photosmart 420 portable photo printer.

This pairing is far from accidental, as the camera slots neatly into a cradle on the printer, which then uses the camera's screen for menu and preview functions. An optional battery is available for the printer for an extra £55.

The camera itself feels reassuringly solid, and the moulded grip and thick body make it comfortable to hold. All controls are intelligently placed and well labelled, so even photography novices will find it easy to use. To make it simpler still, HP includes an on-camera help file to guide you though the camera's and printer's basics.

The M415 is essentially an entry-level camera and, as such, has few advanced controls. A mode button cycles though the usual array of preset scenes, macro and infinity focus modes, while exposure compensation is the only concession to more sophisticated techniques.

A sluggish 3x zoom lens feeds light to a 5-megapixel sensor. This is enough to produce prints up to 8x6". The M415's images are warm and rich but not as sharp as those from more accomplished cameras at medium and long range. Fine detail is often lost, and subtle textures appear bland and have a painted look.

Printing direct from the camera is a seamless process. When you place the M415 on the printer cradle, it switches to a preview mode. Simply select the photos you want to print, press the print button, and off it goes. You can recompose your photos by cropping to a section of a photo and printing just that. It's quick and convenient, and renders the computer unnecessary, although you lose the versatility you get by transferring the photos to the computer and printing from there. As well as the obvious image-editing benefits, using a computer as an intermediary means you can access the print driver and the full range of printer settings.

Like all compact HP photo printers, the 420 uses a three-ink cartridge. This has a maximum print resolution of 4,800x1,200, although you can only select the maximum print quality by using the printer driver on a PC. Printing a borderless 6x4" photo takes about two minutes and 10 seconds, and you can expect to get about 130 prints from a high-capacity cartridge, but considerably fewer from the supplied starter cartridge.

Three-ink photo printers tend to have trouble reproducing the subtleties of a photo's colours, and the Photosmart 420 is no exception. Photos look fine from a distance with a clean, if rather vivid, colour balance. Up close, though, colour transitions look a little grainy. Light areas of photos suffer from speckling, and while HP's black ink performs well, producing deep shadow, it overpowers the others in dark areas so subtle tones are lost.

On output quality alone, the Photosmart 422 isn't quite up to scratch. Although the convenience of the integrated design is attravailable, you can get a more proficient budget camera and better compact photo printer elsewhere for a similar amount.